Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

Make Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas with just 4 ingredients and 30 seconds in the food processor (or 3 minutes kneading by hand). They are so much tastier than storebought tortillas! The tortilla dough comes together in just minutes with this recipe and making them is a snap: portion the dough, roll it out and cook in a dry skillet for a 30 seconds on each side. That’s it! Use homemade tortillas for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas (Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas with Green Enchilada Sauce), burrito bowls or even tortilla pizzas for a quick and fun dinner. They freeze beautifully, so double the recipe to make a big batch!

Before these, my attempts at homemade tortillas were marginal at best. But a post by Kate at Cookie and Kate inspired me to try again. She posted a simple and clever way to make oven baked tortilla pizzas in a cast iron skillet. She suggested buying whole wheat tortillas with just a few ingredients – skipping those that have a ridiculously long list. Great advice!

I’m always looking for ways to replace labeled food with homemade versions. It’s fun to look around your refrigerator and pantry and think, “Could I make that?” Sometimes you try and it’s not really worth the effort. For me, that’s sourdough bread. I had fun making sourdough starter and crusty loaves, but I’m just as happy to buy them from our local baker. Other foods though, like mayonnaise, marshmallows, and crackers are totally worth the effort. And now I can add one more to the list: whole wheat tortillas. And friends, if you’re interested in making your own tortillas, this is the recipe. It comes together in just a few minutes and the dough is delicious and utterly cooperative.

Once you’ve made the tortillas, maybe you’d like to make pizza? We made the classic Pizza Margherita – tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil. Fantastic and on the table before you think it’s possible. The only note I’d make is to preheat your cast iron pan before you add the tortilla and toppings. Click here for Kate’s post.

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

Ingredients

2cupswhite whole wheat flour240 g, such as King Arthur brand

1teaspoonfine sea salt

1/4cupbacon fator non-hydrogenated shortening (such as Spectrum)

1/2cupwarm water

Instructions

Add flour and salt toto the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add bacon fat or shortening and pulse until you have a coarse meal (6 or 7 pulses). Add warm water and process for 30 seconds, until the dough gathers into a ball. (If the dough is too dry, add more warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time.) You want a moist but not sticky dough.

Form the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. (The gluten will relax and make the tortillas easier to roll out.)

Now cook the tortillas, one by one. You’ll slip into a groove as you go – roll, cook, roll while you keep an eye on the one in the pan, repeat.

Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a little ball between your palms. Sprinkle your work surface with a little flour. Press one ball into a disc and place on the work surface, keep the other balls covered with plastic wrap. Roll into a 10″ circle with a rolling pin, flipping the tortilla occasionally to keep it from sticking. Now move your work surface near your stove-top, if possible.

Place a clean plate near your stove-top for stacking your cooked tortillas. Preheat a dry, cast iron skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add your first tortilla and cook for 20 to 30 seconds, until the top side starts to puff and bubble. Then flip and cook for 20 to 30 seconds more, taking care not to let it burn. Adjust your heat as needed. If your tortillas seem too stiff then the flour/oil/water ratio is a bit off. Don’t worry, just add a teaspoon of oil before you add each tortilla to make it more pliable.

While the tortilla is cooking, roll out the next one. Make this a team effort if there is another willing party in the house – one person cooks, one person rolls. Repeat until all tortillas are cooked. Use and store as you would store bought tortillas. Makes 6 10-inch tortillas

Notes

You can also make this dough by hand by whisking the salt into the flour and cutting in the bacon fat or shortening. Then stirring in warm water and kneading the dough for 3 to 5 minutes until smooth. Let the dough rest and follow remaining recipe instuctions.

Tried this recipe?I’d love to see it! Tag me on Instagram at @pinchandswirl or leave me a comment and rating below.

About Marissa

The best food happens at home. I love delicious food prepared simply with fresh ingredients and that’s just what you’ll find here! You can count on me for well tested, easy, mouthwatering recipes designed for home cooks.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Hi, Thanks for sharing the recipe! I have found a real difficulty with my skillet. You have told that I should heat the skillet at medium heat but I ended up burning the tortillas. Can you suggest me any specific measure of heating tortillas?

Hi William! I’m so sorry that happened – I find that sometimes the heat seems to build after I’ve fried several tortillas and I need to drop the heat back a bit. That’s the best advice I can give to just watch closely and turn the heat down in small amounts as needed. Also there is no harm in giving the tortillas a couple of flips if you think one side might be getting too brown.

It’s been FOREVER since I made tortillas, Marissa! Like, it’s been so long I think I forgot! lol. Lucky for me I have YOU! AND I super awesome video tutorial! Wahoo! These look amazing, girlie! You know I just LOVE that bacon fat! And the fact these are so quick and easy to make is just all around winning in my book! Pinned! Cheers! XOXO

We definitely share that same love of cooking and wondering, “Hmmm…can I make that myself?” That has led me on some really fun adventures in the kitchen over the years! Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s always fun to experiment. I have made tortillas before, but never whole wheat tortillas. I’m totally going to try this sometime soon…we love a good soft taco night around here! 🙂

I love simple stuff which doesn’t have a huuuuge list of the ingredients. If it comes to labeled food, I don’t have patience to go through the whole list (and they often sound scary and too complicated for my little brain haha). If it comes to cooking and buying ingredients, I prefer to keep it short too cause if the list is too long, I’ll definitely miss something. Besides, I do believe, if there’re some ingredients I cannot substitute for more available stuff – don’t bother:) I love these tortillas for being simple yet obviously delicious. Also, I’ve been having a kick on flatbread pizza, so now I’ve got to try how it works with a tortilla. Nice, Marissa!

Hi Marissa! We probably eat more tortillas than the average TN household. I have been making them for years and I have a cast iron tortilla press so I don’t even have to roll them out. I use it to make corn tortillas also. Haven’t made flour tortillas with whole wheat flour; don’t know why as I always have it on hand. I usually make them with shortening, but I always have bacon grease which can only make them better!! 🙂

I was literally thinking the other day if it was possible to make my own tortillas, since they’re a food that we eat A LOT of. I can’t wait to try yours out! It’s life changing when you realize how easy it is to make something that you’ve always just ended up buying (oh, and I’m with you on the sourdough) Cheers!

These look just perfect. I’ve tried to make tortillas before but they never came out as malleable as the store-bought kind. I’ll definitely be giving these a try…just as soon as I get the cast iron pans I just ordered!

Marissa, I am so excited to try making my own whole wheat tortillas! I like store-bought enough but yours look a lot better. Isn’t it crazy how many ingredients and preservatives can be found in store bought when homemade only requires four?

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Hi there! I’m Marissa.

The best food happens at home. I love delicious food prepared simply with fresh ingredients and that’s just what you’ll find here! You can count on me for well tested, easy, mouthwatering recipes designed for home cooks. Read More…